Residents of Flatlands, Brooklyn, building beg NYC officials for help as "apartments are being destroyed"

Residents claim their Flatlands, Brooklyn, building is deteriorating because they have an absentee landlord who is facing financial challenges. 

Tuesday on a walking tour with Council Member Farah Louis and multiple city agencies, residents of 1155 East 35th Street pointed out garbage spilling out in the front and back of the building, leaky ceilings, black mold, and resident-made contraptions to combat a rodent infestation. 

"Apartments are being destroyed," said the tenant leader, who only wanted to give her first name, Ruth.

"We still hear the scratching in the wall," one tenant said during a tour of their unit.

"The oven hasn't worked in over a year," said another tenant.

"It's deteriorating conditions for tenants that have lived here for over 40 years, a majority of them seniors," Louis said.

The TikTok account @mfox1155 documents the building in disarray over the last several months, and violations from the city that have piled up.

"There's no maintenance. There's no super. We haven't had anyone like that here since 2024," said tenant Carola Brown.

Ruth alleges apartments were illegally converted before tenants moved in. 

In one unit, a resident claims she discovered a bedroom used to be a kitchen and bathroom, and that she discovered a radiator pipe was hidden inside the wall in the closet.

"When the boiler comes on, the heat is coming up and it busts through the wall and it leaks, it leaks throughout the whole closet," she said.

Ruth said there are squatters in the building as well.

The Department of Buildings had a representative on the inspection tour.  A spokesperson said inspectors observed multiple safety issues including separate bathrooms that had been constructed in the basement of the building without plumbing or construction permits. It also found a gas line in the meter room with an open union and an unlocked valve, which is against code, and an active water pipe leak in the building. National Grid was also on scene and removed one of the gas meters where the open union was found and locked service off for one apartment, the DOB spokesperson said. 

Inspectors are still reviewing the results of their inspection and will issue multiple violations, the spokesperson added.

A 2025 foreclosure lawsuit on the property brought by Kearny Bank names Yeshaya Wasserman as one of the defendants. Tenants say he is the landlord who runs SGW Properties.

CBS News New York emailed SGW Properties for comment and received the following statement from a spokesperson for the ownership for 1155 East 35th Street.

"The disarray is the direct result of the receivership lender Kearny Bank put in place over this building in June 2025, not of ownership, which was stripped of any control. In late August, the lender terminated its own receiver without ownership's involvement or agreement. Ownership is not in bankruptcy, is contesting the foreclosure in court, has offered the lender any and every constructive solution, but will not allow these tenants to be further used as pawns."

Multiple emails and phone calls were made to Kearny Bank and its attorney did not respond to CBS News New York request for comment by deadline.

"We believe having a preservation partner take over stabilized conditions … is the best solution for this particular property," said Louis.

She said a preservation purchase of the property would be done by NYC government and "would allow the City or an appropriate preservation partner to take control of the building, address its severe maintenance needs, stabilize operations, and provide long-term support and security for the 38 households once and for all."

Tenants say they reached out to the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants for help.

"Every New York tenant has the right to a safe, well-maintained apartment. Agencies across the Mamdani Administration as well as the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants have been engaged with tenants at this building and with the Council Member's team. We will be following up with tenants and local stakeholders as part of our work to protect tenants across the city," a spokesperson told CBS News New York.